Feminism Paper: Gender Inequality In The Media

Feminism Paper-Gender Inequality
Sociology 101-Graham Cook
March 17, 2014

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any”
-Alice Walker

The issue of gender inequality is a publicly known problem which has been occurring in society for decades. Gender inequality still exists in today’s society. The problem of gender inequality can be seen most prominently through women’s representation in the media. In order to understand this issue, one must get to the root of this problem and comprehend the sociological factors which continuously contribute to the causes of women being misrepresented by the media in society. In comparison to our male counterparts, women are constantly being scrutinized by
The way women are represented in film and television makes women “the other”, an object of men, rather than an equal being. In addition, the social structures of a male-dominant society have created roles that restrict women. In my opinion, these specific types of roles are created for women because this is what appeals to men and sex sells. Therefore, the issue of gender inequality and women’s representation in the media results from society allowing men to continuously hold the upper hand. Psychoanalytic feminists would “describe women’s situation as the consequence of a direct power relationship between men and women in which men have fundamental and concrete interests in controlling, using, and oppressing women-that is, in the practice of domination” (Ritzer, p.470). Women’s representation in the media demonstrates the underpinning of a male-dominant society and the need for men to control women. Men seek power and status and they can achieve this by controlling, using and oppressing women. Personally, I believe it is time for a radical change to occur in society and for women to take charge and hold the upper hand in society instead of men. It is time for subordination of women by men under patriarchy to change and for women to hold status and power in
Women are expected to look, dress, and behave in a certain way due to the way media perceives women in society. Women’s representation in the media is all about the body and not about the brains and women are constantly seeking approval in the eyes of men. The way women are being portrayed in the media today is an impossible and unrealistic standard for real women to live up to especially for young girls who don’t have the cognitive knowledge to know any better. Young girls and teenagers who look up to Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears as role models are being sent the wrong messages and are growing up in a society which values unrealistic depictions of women. This makes me stop and think what sort of society my children will grow up in if we continue to place so much value on status, power and the ideal beauty type. The ideal beauty type doesn’t exist and these images of women represented in the media of Megan Fox, Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears are creating issues such as anorexia, bulimia, depression and self-esteem issues which is leading to other problems such as cutting. In addition, according to Jean Kilbourne, filmmaker of Killing Us Softly and author and senior scholar at Wellesley Centers for Women “young men see these images and judge real women much more harshly” (Miss Representation, 2011). Therefore, it is impossible for young women in society to escape being objectified by men. Similarly,